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First, some corrections: Last week, on John Gibson’s Fox News Channel show, “The Big Story,” I was asked to comment on 9/11 conspiracy theorists and Ron Paul. Here’s the video. In the segment, I referred to “Students and Scholars for Truth.” The accurate name of the group I was referring to is “Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth.” (There’s a separate group called “Scholars for 9/11 Truth,” which I’ve blogged about previously.) I also stated that Paul appeared on campus with Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth. This is incorrect. The incident I was referring to was an exchange that took place at a campaign house party, not during an on-campus joint appearance, as I mistakenly stated. I regret the errors and am forwarding this post to The Big Story producers so that they can air these corrections if they wish to do so.

Unfortunately for Ron Paul and his hysterical minions, those errors–which are being treated like Rathergate and Jayson Blair-gate in the left and libertarian fever swamps of the blogosphere–do not cleanse him of his Truther-y stain. Allah, Ace, and Dean Barnett all plumbed Paul’s conspiratorial depths–including Bircher-era/Rosie O’Donnell-esque claims that America is poised to manufacture a Gulf of Tonkin incident to go to war with Iran and his repeat appearances on the radio show of bottom-feeding 9/11 conspiracist Alex Jones.

About 90 percent of the hate mail I’ve received supporting Ron Paul comes from Truther nuts. Why is that? Just watch the video of that meeting between Paul and the Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth:

Transcript of the Truther-pandering exchange:

Student: …we’ve heard that you have questioned the government’s official account.

Paul: Well, I never automatically trust anything the government does when they do an investigation because too often I think there’s an area that the government covered up, whether it’s the Kennedy assassination or whatever.

“Whether it’s the Kennedy assassination or whatever?”

Yes, friends, we are in grassy knoll territory. And the Truthers certainly think they know what Paul is signaling when he said “or whatever.”

The student follows up after Paul gives a speech:

Student: So I just wanted to say, you know, we’ve talked to Dennis Kucinich and he says that he’s willing to, you know, investigate it. He would advocate for a new investigation.

Paul: Into 9/11?

Student: Yeah, into 9/11. I mean, if it was Dennis Kucinich and you, there’d be congressional support. You know what I mean? So you wouldn’t be the only one.

Paul: It’d be bipartisan, too. And I’ve worked with Dennis a lot on a lot of these issues.

Student: So I mean, would you advocate for a new investigation into 9/11?

Paul: Yes, I think we have to look at the details of it.

At this point in the video, Student Scholars for Truth transcribes Paul’s next sentence this way:

“…the investigation was an investigation in which there were government cover-ups?”

Did Paul really say that? Listen to the video closely. It’s hard to tell. If this isn’t what Paul says, he should clarify publicly what exactly it is he said. If the Student Scholars for Truth group is lying about what Paul said, it should own up.

Paul continues:

There could be a better investigation because there’s a split in government. So I would certainly consider that and think it could be worthwhile. If you do the same thing over and over again, you’re just spinning your wheels. But I would certainly work with Dennis. So I’ll talk to Dennis and he’s in a position now in the party majority, so he might have a better chance with it.

Student: Yeah, he has subpoena power and everything, so…

Paul: And we’d have a better chance of getting a new investigation. Too often investigations on almost any issue is usually a cover-up.

That statement was clear:

More:

Student: Yeah. Yeah, and I know that he is really serious about this because I know that his office is already investigating certain aspects of 9/11 he’s having his guys look into.

In regards to Rep. Ron Paul, he states twice in the Student Scholars video that he believes that the first 9/11 investigation was one in which there many “cover-ups.” Paul also claimed he “never automatically believes anything the government does when they do an investigation.” Additionally, he has been on the Alex Jones show several times. Ron Paul knows very well that something is very wrong with the official explanation of 9/1l. However, like Dennis Kucinich he cannot look right into our cameras and proclaim “9/11 WAS A SELF INFLICTED WOUND!” Through acknowledging the legitimacy of the 9/11 Truth Movement’s concerns, these candidates are expressing their support for our cause.

I repeat: This has no place on the GOP presidential debate stage. Leave it where it belongs.

More: Pat at Brainster’s Blog flagged Paul’s Truther-y appearance on the Alex Jones show back in January:

CALLER: I want a complete, impartial, and totally independent investigation of the events of September 11, 2001 . I’m tired of this bogus garbage about terrorism. Ask Michael Meacher about how he feels about this bogus war on terrorism. Can you comment on that please?

HON. DR. RON PAUL: Well, that would be nice to have. Unfortunately, we don’t have that in place. It will be a little bit better now with the Democrats now in charge of oversight. But you know, for top level policy there’s not a whole lot of difference between the two policies so a real investigation isn’t going to happen. But I think we have to keep pushing for it. And like you and others, we see the investigations that have been done so far as more or less cover-up and no real explanation of what went on.